Its pointless to compare him to anyone else.

He goes in and out of the "mainstream" so fast, u may not realize you were ever there.

Not really sure what any1 is trying 2 say here,but I just love Prince anyways! He's in my mainstream,that's 4 sure!

Imago said:

I think that's one of those lazy truisms that critics get sucked into because they're easier to write than to try and say something original. Kinda like "Prince albums are about God, Sex and his struggle to blah, blah, blah.."


Not to say that he didn't chart his own path, but that motherfucker was (and still sometimes is) as mainstream as anyone.
[Edited 8/23/06 8:54am]

NO, that would be the velvet underground, the stooges and talking heads, among others before him.
his music is of course more in depth and sounds better. but alternative as a genre? no.

dseann said:

Graycap23 said:[quote]Prince has NEVER been mainstream. Prince was a HOT property for a while but mainstream? I’d say no. Intelligence has NEVER been mainstream and never will be. In my opinion, the career of Prince has been the most compelling combination of intelligence, artistry, planning, TALENT, and shrewdness in modern music. Prince started out by his OWN set of rules and still does today.

Has he strayed from his path? Sure so has every man/woman breathing.
2 examine the career of Prince is 2 dive into how one should conduct a music career that is going on 30 years strong. I’m sure U guys will try and post a list of others who have done things their way and I’m sure that list will contain some great talent, but Prince is, has been , and will continue 2 be in a league of his own making.[/quote

I feel exactly where you are coming from and I agree with you.

on Mars?

legendofnothing said:[quote]

Graycap23 said:

This is so far from the truth it's not even funny. The Beatles wrote highly intelligent songs - they didn't release albums in the hinterlands of the pop music landscape, did they? Nope. They were mainstream. Check out Earth, Wind & Fire. They wrote intelligent songs and were embraced by mainstream audiences. MJ's Thriller is nothing but well written pop music for mainstream audiences! So for anyone to suggest INTELLIGENCE has never been mainstream and never will need to pick up a history book.


Prince wrote the music for Purple Rain knowing full well that what he desired was a larger audience. The neat thing about that quest is that not only did he accomplish his goal of reaching a wider audience, but the music that accompanied those desires was well written! You don't sign to a major label, mount worldwide tours, go on American Bandstand, make major motion pictures and music videos, allow your music to be submitted for Grammy/Oscar nominations just to be some cult figure chillin' on the outskirts of popular culture. If anything, Prince is one calculating mutherfucker!

Hmmmm, I dunno. He's pretty leftfield sure.... but there's a *heavy* dose of popstar in there too.

But then again, how many of his peers were doing things like Madhouse?

Prince goes off on tangents, but he always seems to pull it back in for a shot at the pop charts.
[Edited 8/23/06 2:15am]

chuckaducci said:

chuckaducci said:[quote]

legendofnothing said:

The ANAL shall ALWAYS rear it's ulgy head. There ALWAYS exceptions 2 every RULE. Dig?

What the hell does that even mean? LMFAO!





I'm going to leave that first part of the quote alone - you don't have to be an asshole cos someone has a different opinion. You make an obviously un-informed thread about Prince NEVER being mainstream and when someone informed counters your insanely illogical point of view, you get your panties in a bunch.


Dig this, Purple Rain sold over 13 million copies. It spent 24 consecutive weeks at the number one spot. He won a couple of Grammys and an Oscar. He spearheaded the popularizing of the "Minneapolis sound" that was blasting out of everyone's radio/boombox during the early part of the 80s. Tipper Gore even started a movement and an organization to combat suggestive lyrics after she heard "Darling Nikki." Basically, Prince is the reason why albums that have suggestive lyrics come adorned with those infamous Parental stickers! If he wasn't in the larger part of the American consciousness, nobody would've even noticed!


The brother, despite his eccentricities and idiosyncrasies, was mainstream. It's a testament to Prince's music being able to overcome humankind's inherent urges to pre-judge.

chuckaducci said:

Joe mama wears panties , not I.

C'mon main!


Let's keep it kosher around here. Either argue your point, as effective as you possibly can, or just bow out the thread gracefully.

chuckaducci said:

I agree with U.....but if I'm not mistaken, U brought up the issue of panties.

chuckaducci said:[quote]

legendofnothing said:

Instead of trying 2 understand the POINT more times than NOT u guys always try 2 find the exception 2 the rule and then try 2 make it stick. U CANNOT tell me that in AmeriKa, intelligence of ANY kind has been MAINSTREAM. Not now, NOT ever, except maybe when the Native Indians ran things.

Graycap23 said:

After you said something about the anal rearing it's ugly head. This is my last tit-for-tat regarding this.








I understand your point very well; you're just dressing it in the wrong outfit, ya dig? It seems that you're trying to bestow some sort of superlative upon Prince for managing to chart his musical career the way he saw fit. That's cool and dandy, but Prince's ambitions exceeded any cult status or iconography. The brother who played the Brit Awards and Good Morning America just recently is mainstream - I don't care how you cut it. Instead of saying Prince has NEVER been mainstream, you should be applauding his tenacity and determination in plotting his own musical career despite what anybody had to say about it.


And what's this ranting and raving about America never embracing anything of intelligence and/or intelligence never being mainstream? How are you and I communicating? Through cables wires connected via our computer, right? Someone who was highly intelligent created the concept of computers and the internet, right? Isn't the internet/comptuers pretty much mainstream entitities? I've also provided several examples of musicians who wrote creative, innovative, and intelligent music while aspiring for mainstream success. Let's drop this anti-American intelligence stance - it's plain silly.

dseann said:

That statement is such a joke.
Why not just say Prince created funk?
Thats how absurd your statement is.

chuckaducci said:[quote]

Graycap23 said:

Let's agree 2 disagree.

In my opinion Prince has never been mainstream. There has just been times when the mainstream has taken to his music. However he still manages to illude all out pop status. So now he's more of a distant musical icon than he is a mainstream artist. Prince's music has never been dictated by what was mainstream at the time even when he had Tony M rapping, he remained quite different with his sound and style. He is the type of artist that likes to dictate to the listener what is and isn't cool, and sometimes the majority digs it and sometimes they don't so he is hardly mainstream.

I'm sorry, but y'all are entirely wrong.....


Once Purple Rain was released, Prince's very name entered into pop culture's lexicon. Again, Prince has managed to dip in and out of the mainstream despite his unique take on music.



Futhermore, Prince's assault on all things pop culture continues to this day, without his doing. After Dave Chappelle/Charlie Murphy performed that skit, Prince is now being introduced to a younger generation that didn't witness the height of his mainstream popularity during the 80s!

chuckaducci said:

We have different definitions of what is mainstream.

thepope2the9s said:

You've got him confused with someone else... that's Graycap.

Graycap23 said:

Taken from wikipedia.com:



Mainstream is, generally, the common current of thought of the majority. It is a term most often applied in the arts (i.e., music, literature, and performance). This includes:

something that is ordinary or usual;


Now of course, Prince is hardly ordinary. But the list of inclusion continues thusly:


something that is familiar to the masses;
something that is available to the general public.
As such, the mainstream includes all popular culture, typically disseminated by mass media. The opposite of the mainstream are subcultures, countercultures, cult followings and underground cultures.

Musically, mainstream music denotes music that is familiar to the masses, as for example popular music, pop music, middle of the road music, rock and roll music and some kinds of modern rap music and Nu metal music.



In 1984, Purple Rain was all of those things.
[Edited 8/23/06 11:32am]

chuckaducci said:

My definition of what is "hot".....NOT mainstream. Not 2 mention the fact that u are talking about 1 Prince album out of 30 plus that were released...22 years ago. That hardly supports your "point if view".
[Edited 8/23/06 13:10pm]

So, following your logic, just because you and your own set of standards think Prince is "hot" then he's not mainstream? Oh, now I see. You're setting up arbitrary definitions that contradict what is generally accepted as "mainstream." Then, you expect ALL of us to instantly recognize your own definition, agree upon your arbitrary (and wrong) definition of "mainstream" and follow your point of view? Sorry, kiddo, but you're definition of what is mainstream is groundless - cos then, we get into this grey, murky area as to what is "hot" - and one person's opinion alone is not what sets a "standard."






My contention has always been that your claim that Prince has NEVER been mainstream is fallible. As an opponent, I only have to show one starkly clear example to disprove your notion. Purple Rain? It was mainstream - and I provided examples to back that opinion up. Therefore, one cannot say that Prince has NEVER been mainstream. I don't care how many records he's released or how many years ago it was. As long as he's released one album that was mainstream, this thread doesn't have a leg to stand on.


You're in over your head, dude.

chuckaducci said:

I'm NOT here 2 argue with u. It's that's what u believe more power 2 u. There are CLEARLY others here whom agree with me.

Hahah! Clearly you are not hear to argue as well. You can't seem to back up any of your claims. And clearly I think those who agree with your premise that Prince has NEVER been mainstream are just as misguided as you are.



I've read some of your other posts in this board - we need people like you who are painfully aware that something in this country isn't right. But man, you need to piece together your arguments and opinions better than what you've piecemealed here in this thread, homeboy.


See ya around.

chuckaducci said:

Lol.....I could spend valuable time doing that but.....I can opnly do it the way that makes sense 2 me. I like 2 keep it simple.

Prince's music has never been Mindless?